


storm

by ElectricDove



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Asshole Rhett, College, M/M, Making Out, Sexual Tension, but Link knows how to deal with him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-09-24 08:09:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17097005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElectricDove/pseuds/ElectricDove
Summary: A storm is coming. Link feels the tension prickling under his skin.Instead of helping, Rhett decides to be an asshole.Link has an interesting tactic to shut him up, while also dealing with the tension.





	storm

**Author's Note:**

> I just remembered I only posted this on tumblr. So.. here it is.  
> College rhink. With make outs.

There’s a storm coming.

The North Carolina sky has been an angry shade of blue all day. Steely blue interspersed with streaks of purple and grey. The air feels hot and humid, clinging to the handful of young people walking around the campus grounds of NCU.

Many student’s faces are turned up, eyeing the sky speculatively, trying to assess the amount of time they still have to hurry to their dorm rooms and stay dry. There seem to be a thousand clouds, packed together, heavy with the upcoming storm that is sure to break out at the end of this late summer day.

Link feels the humidity clinging to his skin, making it itch. He rubs his hand over his suntanned forearm and he feels a surge of annoyance. He’s been cooped inside their dorm room for the past 3 hours already, since Rhett had declared it ‘no use’ and ‘a ridiculous mistake’ to attend their 3.15 PM class.

Link had scoffed at his friend’s pompous words and easy dismissal of their education, but he’d ultimately agreed to stay at home and make the best of their afternoon, quietly relieved he wouldn’t have to risk being outside in the bad weather.

He doesn’t like this kind of weather. It makes him itchy, antsy, ready to crawl out of his skin, with just a hint of anxiety running through.

It doesn’t help Rhett has been plastered to his side all day, constantly in his personal space, laughing too loudly, breathing too hard too close to Link’s ear.

Link’s skin still feels prickly, itchy, too tight and too much.

The first hour of unexpected free time he hadn’t minded as much, he’d enjoyed Rhett’s company as always, talking about nonsense while listening to good music on their shitty radio.

The second hour Link had become more and more aware of close they actually were, how many points of contact they actually had when he bumped into Rhett with his right arm. Rhett’s left arm had moved to the back of the couch to make more room at his side for Link, making their sitting arrangement strangely intimate.

Rhett still had his oversized t-shirt on, but his shorts revealed suntanned legs that stuck up and sideways as he’d made himself comfortable. Rhett’s left knee rested against Link’s outer thigh casually.

The amount of skin that was touching, or almost touching him made Link’s own skin prickle and tighten into goosebumps.

Upon entering their dorm room earlier that day Link had swiftly taken off his own shirt, the damp fabric tossed in the general direction of their laundry basket.

After the second hour had passed and it was nearing 5.30 PM, he dearly regretted that decision, his skin too hot and too tight as he tries not to move too much. Rhett was everywhere, his long limbs and his lanky body filling the limited space they have in their shared room. Link thought he should maybe move, away from the couch, away from his friend, keep some healthy distance between them.

He rubs his itchy skin, and once again he’s accidentally touching Rhett’s skinny leg at the same time, goddammit! why is he so close!,

Link lets out a loud sigh of annoyance and watches the sky darkening outside the window. He doesn’t move away.

The clouds grab his attention for a while, make his thoughts slip from his best friend and roommate who seems intent on spending the whole damn day next to Link on their too small couch. Rhett seems quite comfortable, even when Link can feel his own thoughts slowly spiralling out of his control.

For a minute Link’s attention is solely focused on the clouds filling the sky. He wonders if the differently colored clouds mean different kinds of weather. The heavy clouds, filled with thunder, lightning already crackling through them as they seemingly multiply with every passing minute. The steely grey clouds, holding on to the rain for now, ominous with the load which they carry.

Almost opening his mouth to ask Rhett about the correlation between the color of the clouds and the kind of weather they’re bearing, he’s beaten to it by the man himself.

“You know, the color of the a cloud gets thicker and denser as it gathers more water droplets — the thicker it gets, the more light it scatters, so less light gets all the way through it.

The particles on the underside of the rain cloud don’t have a lot of light to scatter to your eyes. That’s why rainclouds always look so grey.”

Instead of feeling pleased with their own special brand of mind reading, telepathy, or whatever made Rhett speak up at the same time as him, Link feels only immense annoyance. His fragile equilibrium he felt a minute ago is destroyed within seconds as Rhett not only leans closer while he talks, but also taps his shoulder with warm fingers.

The touch burns into his already too hot, too tight, too overstimulated skin and it propels Link up from the couch, away from the source of its agitation.

Link knows he must look a little mad, crazy even, standing in the middle of their dorm room, eyes wide and his hands in front of him as if he’s been stung by a bee or slapped in the face.   
Rhett’s own eyes are just as wide, looking at him with an almost amused kind of shock.

“Why you gotta be such a smartass all the time, Rhett?!”, Link yells.

He can’t help the way his voice comes out too loud, too angry for such a statement between friends. Running unsteady hands through his hair, Link tries taking a deep breath to calm his nerves.

It doesn’t help much.

Rhett is now grinning up at him, his arm still outstretched on the back of the couch, legs still all over the place.

“Can’t help it if I know more than you do, brother.”

It’s the way Rhett says something like this, like he has done a million times before, easy and a bit too smug, that makes Link angry all over again. His hands are clenching and unclenching at his sides, teeth gritting as he scowls down at Rhett.

The air inside their small dorm room crackles with electricity, fuelling Link’s agitation and anger.

He’s been friends with Rhett for long enough to knows the guy, to know his arrogance is parts act but also part truth. Rhett does know a lot and he loves to flaunt with it. Sometimes this results in Rhett being the biggest asshole to be around. Like today apparently.

Link wants to slap the ugly, too smug grin of his friends face. He wants to slap Rhett for all the times he’s been an asshole, for making him feel miserable, for making Link feel ready to jump out of his itchy, sweaty skin.

-

“Come now Link, sit down here and let uncle Rhett tell you all about the clouds and the sky.”

Rhett sees the warning signs in his best friend. He sees the stormy expression on Link’s face and can almost see the figurative clouds forming above his head.   
He knows he’s not helping, edging Link on like that, but it’s what he does in situations like this.

He’s not good at saying the right thing, at calming people down. He makes jokes, says the wrong thing to see Link’s cheeks flaring bright red in his building anger.

Rhett knows he doesn’t mean it in a bad way, knows he’s only joking. But he also knows Link just can’t see the joke right now.   
Can’t see and won’t see the humor in the situation.

So Rhett presses on.

He likes the argument, the clashing, the friction it creates. Friction that is mirrored in the sky outside their dorm room window. The sky is now a deep purple, lashed through with flashes of the thunder that is sure to come within the next several minutes.

Just like the storm outside Link is going to lash out any moment now, his eyes furious in a dark red face, something hot and bothered crawling all over his friend, like an animal ready to attack.

He can see Link’s hands clenching and unclenching at his sides in an increasing rhythm. Maybe he’ll even throw a punch.

Rhett knows Link can hurt him. He’s smaller than him in many ways, but Link has the strength, something tough and scrawny when he wants to be.

Keeping his grin in place as Link continues to stare him down, Rhett’s already planning how to move to wrestle Link underneath him, to distribute his weight on Link and how to grapple at his hands to stop the punches from reaching their destination.

But instead of a punch to the face, Link launches himself at Rhett.

Rhett is still in the middle of planning his moves, certain he would have another 30 seconds or so, another scatching remark from his mouth the proverbial last drop into the bucket. But Link is clashing against his whole body, arm wrapping around Rhett’s shoulders and face smashing into his, hard and unexpected.

It takes Rhett a moment to gather his wits and realize Link is not attacking him, not punching him or trying to wrestle him to the ground. Link’s face is not this close to throw insults directly at his face so their fight can finally start for real.

Link’s face is this close to push his mouth directly against Rhett’s mouth, kissing him without any finesse but only with fierce passion, tinged with a bit of wild anger.

In a moment of panic, bewilderment, stunned amazement, Rhett brings his hands up to Link’s shoulders to push him off. He wants to do something, say something, but once he finds a grip on Link he finds he can’t move his friend away.

Rhett finds he doesn’t want to.

-

Link thinks the roaring in his ears could only be from the thunderstorm outside, it’s loud and overwhelming, filling his brain with noise as kisses Rhett.

Satisfaction wells up in him, flooding his nervous system as he attacks Rhett in a way that surprises them both. He can feel the surprise in Rhett as he relaxes in Link’s too tight grip, hands that were surely moving to throw him off now moving over Link’s bare shoulders, as if to explore this newly found territory.

The roaring subsides the moment Rhett kisses him back, formerly slack lips moving against Link’s mouth, inviting it to ease up a bit and enjoy the sensation of kissing. Link hadn’t intended for this to be an enjoyable situation, hadn’t moved in Rhett’s personal space to kiss him at all actually.

Link had only wanted to do something, push Rhett, attack him to shut him up. He wanted to punish Rhett for making him feel all prickly and tight. He hadn’t thought it through, moved without thought or plan, pushing himself against Rhett while the roaring noise of the storm drowns everything else out.

For an impulsive move it seems to be working just fine, though, Rhett melting underneath him as their mouths move together frantically.

Link knows he’s good at this, knows how to use his mouth, his tongue, his teeth. He kisses Rhett with everything he’s got but it still isn’t enough. His skin still feel tight, sticky with sweat as he moves closer, straddling Rhett properly without breaking the kiss.

Rhett’s hands feel slippery on his skin, moving lower until they grab onto Link’s hips. Even through the haze of lust, heat and electricity between them increasing the storm, Link sees the power move before Rhett has a chance to perform it.

He’s not willing to lose his position, not ready to follow Rhett’s lead like he usually does and just flip over. Link wants to, needs to, be the one on top.

So instead of moving with Rhett’s insistent hands, urging him to lay back on their too small couch and let Rhett take control, Link moves forward. He’s too fast and too uncoordinated at first, wincing as his right leg almost slips off the couch cushioning. Link is all about perseverance though, as he moves closer to Rhett once again, finally making full body contact. The groan coming from Rhett as Link grinds down on him is the only thing loud enough to get through the roaring storm.

Moving down on Rhett’s jaw, biting and licking the stubble there, Link makes sure to leave his marks on his friend’s sweaty skin, igniting more groans and inaudible babbling as their bodies move together frantically.

Before it can get too frantic, too heated and there’s no more stopping until the end, Link steps away from Rhett’s lap. It takes some effort to do so, sticky skin and Rhett’s big hands making it more difficult, but when he stands back Link grins down at his best friend and roommate.

“You’re an asshole, Rhett.”

Without a word, only adjusting his shorts a little once he’s turned around, he steps out of their dormroom grabbing a somewhat clean towel on his way out to the showers.

Rhett can only look after him incredulously, excitement coursing through his body as he looks at Link’s retreating back. It takes a moment for his brain to come back to him, before he scrambles up from the couch, picks up his own towel from the floor and runs after to Link to join him.


End file.
